Suspicion
by brandstifterin
Summary: Things go from bad to worse for Serena Campbell over Christmas after Edward's public betrayal.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is a short, little story, only two or three chapters and it was prompted by a thought of mine when reading the second chapter of PinkCollins' – 'My Only Friend'. **

**I may have taken a couple of liberties with the timings but it's my story and I'll do what I want :) so any inaccuracies are mine and (hopefully) deliberate.**

**Would love to know if you think this is worth continuing, it's a little bit different to the other Sedward stories floating around at the moment.**

**…...**

"Imbecile."

Serena slams the door behind her, locking herself into the car in case Edward decides to follow her, jump in and tell her yet more lies in an effort to dig his way out of yet another sorry mess he's gotten himself into. She uses a hand to massage her temples as the tension threatens to develop into a full-blown migraine.

"_As Deputy CEO, I am more than happy to accept full responsibility for Mr. Campbell's fitness to work."_

"Idiot." Serena's fingers squeeze a little too tightly and she grimaces, knowing that her insults apply as much to herself as they do her ex-husband. He has managed to make her look like a fool yet again and she was right when she told Edward that it is her who doesn't seem to learn. Leaning back into the chair, Serena rests her head and closes her eyes.

She'd spotted Edward waiting for her in the corridor almost immediately as she leaves AAU after her shift. He's tapping a finger against his forehead in some weird parody of 'The Thinker' which is almost laughable because her ex-husband certainly hasn't done _any_ thinking recently. He looks up when he hears her approach and Serena makes her displeasure at seeing him quite obvious.

"You're suspended; you shouldn't even be on the premises."

"I know I behaved appallingly, unforgivable." Serena has little desire to continue the conversation and carries on walking but Edward turns and falls into step next to her to to Serena's annoyance. "But Eleanor wants us together as a family for Christmas." Serena is careful to remain outwardly unmoved and she holds her tongue, she'd love nothing more to point out that they haven't had a family Christmas for 13 years.

"I'll get treatment, whatever it takes, please, Serena..." They seem to have come to a halt and Serena can guess what Edward is about to say, she's heard it all before. "We have a future." She sighs, sounding more resigned and defeated than anything else.

"_Had _a future; based on lies, deceit, half-truths, game-playing, all our relationship's ever been, really..." she swallows, determined to keep her voice flat and unemotional, to pretend that she doesn't care when they both know the opposite is the truth – she cares too much. "You use people, Edward and you let them down, again and again. It's not just me and Eleanor but Mary-Claire, Harry, Mr. Chandler – the list's endless..." She can hear her voice starting to crack and Serena stops, taking a calming breath as she looks up and down the corridor they're in.

"I know, I know – I'm sorry." There's no-one in hearing range and yet another meaningless apology from the man she has known for the best part of thirty years is enough to provoke her.

"I took responsibility for you. I risked my career, for you... and you have humiliated me."

"Please."

"Ha, where have I heard that before?" It's the same old song and dance with Edward and Serena has truly had her fill of him and she starts walking away once again.

"I can see that you're angry but think about Eleanor for a sec, how do you think she'll react to this?" It's a low blow from her ex-husband, their daughter has taken Edward's side in pretty much everything over the last 18 years and they both know it but this time, Serena was careful to nip Eleanor's resentment in the bud.

"I've already told her and she wasn't surprised." Edward moves to stand in front of her this time, blocking her path and Serena looks up at her ex-husband and sticks the knife in. "She's used to being disappointed by you. I'm the one who never seems to learn."

They'd parted a few seconds later, Serena stepping around the suspended anaesthetist and off out of the exit; she had wanted nothing more than to slink off into the darkness and lick her wounds in private but she'd been spotted by some of the carol singing staff and instead of causing a scene by ignoring them, Serena had reluctantly plastered a fake smile to her face and gone to join them, to pretend to share their Christmas Eve happiness.

After a couple of songs, Serena had managed to slip away unnoticed, the strains of carols following her until she reaches her car and she jumps in, her breath catching slightly as she takes a couple of deep breaths. Once she's decided that she is finally calm enough to drive, Serena turns the car on and engages reverse a little more forcefully than she needs to. She backs out of her allocated parking space and makes her way off the hospital grounds, not wanting to linger.

Just after the main building, she passes a couple of teenagers on the path and about fifteen yards ahead of them, the painfully familiar silhouette of her ex-husband as he walks home, looking as if he hasn't got a care in the world; Serena reflexively slows her BMW as if to offer him a lift but as soon as she realises what she is doing, she deliberately keeps her foot on the accelerator, not slowing until she reaches the exit and she indicates left, towards the ring road and home.

**…...**

"I guess we won't be needing this tomorrow after all."

The first thing Serena does when she gets home is uncork a rather expensive bottle of wine that she had bought to share with Edward over Christmas and pours herself a generous glass. However, it doesn't take too long before it's empty as she paces around the kitchen, venting her frustrations at the day. If she's honest, she dreads what Adrienne will say when she sees her mother tomorrow and Serena instinctively refills the glass.

But then she stops, looking at her glass of wine, almost as if seeing it for the first time and she carefully puts it back down onto the worktop; the clink of glass on the granite work surface loud in the otherwise silent kitchen. Serena removes her hand quickly as if the glass or its contents had burned her – she absolutely refuses to drown her sorrows tonight, to turn to drink to cope with the sheer recklessness of her ex-husband's actions.

Serena huffs darkly, if she'd had a drink every time Edward had done something stupid, Serena would almost certainly be dead or in desperate need of a liver transplant – his list of failures and disappointments is endless. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes as she exhales, willing the tension away and she feels marginally better when she opens her eyes.

Serena busies herself, turning on the radio to fight away the silence which is threatening to settle – Eleanor has gone to Adrienne's and Serena is all set to join them tomorrow morning, their original Christmas plans restored; a last minute revision necessary courtesy of Edward. When Serena had rung Eleanor earlier, her daughter had displayed more calmness and maturity than Serena would previously have given her credit for. In fact, Eleanor had arranged to go and stay with her grandmother that evening in order to let Adrienne know what had happened without causing an argument but also to allow Serena to spend the night on her own so she can vent and get any murderous thoughts out of her system.

Singing along to the radio, off-key, half a second out of time and only knowing every other line, Serena opens the fridge to see what she can use to make some kind of dinner. She doesn't have a lot in the fridge, they'd planned to be away over Christmas so Serena hadn't really stocked up.

"Hell, I've got wine, what else does a woman need?" She asks herself out loud but picks up a packet of chicken breasts, pretty certain that she's got a jar of stir-fry sauce around somewhere. Using up the last of the vegetables in her fridge, Serena methodically chops them into appropriate sizes, trying not to let herself get caught up in memories of the day.

"_One of my nurses has made an extremely serious allegation against Mr. Campbell."_

"_She's obviously out to discredit him in any way she can."_

"_Why would she lie?"_

"_I've been working with Mr. Campbell all day so it's completely ridiculous"_

"_Darling, I love you."_

Her chopping action becomes slightly more erratic as thoughts of Edward, Colette and Mary-Claire keeping replaying and completely distracted, Serena's grip accidentally slips and she cuts her hand with the sharp knife.

She jerks reflexively and some of the blood splatters onto her pink shirt but Serena barely notices at first; immediately switching into doctor-mode, she assesses the cut, there's quite a lot of blood but it's not deep enough to need stitches. Cursing as she spots the damage to her shirt, Serena moves to deal with the cut and the flow of blood soon slows and then stops completely.

It takes a couple of minutes for Serena to locate and put a plaster over the wound and she removes her pink over-shirt, tiredly eyeing the stains as she tosses the offending article of clothing straight into the washing machine.

She's rather lost her appetite and Serena replaces the unopened chicken back into the fridge and tips the vegetables away. The central heating hasn't been on for very long and it's a bit chilly to be stood in just a vest top so Serena heads upstairs to change out of her work clothes, signalling the start of her Christmas holiday and she showers before changing into some unflattering yet remarkably comfortable clothes that only Eleanor knows she owns.

"And Edward." She mutters, always Edward.

Remembering her abandoned wine, Serena heads back into the kitchen, turning off the radio as she picks up her glass. Knowing she really has to eat something if she wants to have the second glass of wine, Serena grudgingly makes herself a couple of slices of toast and swallows them, barely tasting them.

Padding back into the living room, Serena kicks off her slippers and tucks her legs underneath her as she picks up the TV remote and skips through the channels until she finds a film she recognises. She huffs at the irony when she lands on 'It's a Wonderful Life' but with little else on, Serena doesn't have much competition and so, adjusting her wine glass, she settles down to watch the familiar events unfold.

**…...**

The doorbell's piercing ring reverberates around the house and Serena's skull and it takes her a few seconds to work out that it isn't the alarm clock making the noise. She opens her eyes to discover that she's fallen asleep on the sofa with the TV still on, now part-way through a different film that she's never seen before. Finding the remote, Serena turns it off, blessed relief at the silence before pushing herself up into a seated position trying to get rid of the kink in her neck muscles – she's too old to spend the night on a sofa these days.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Serena blinks, her watch reads 11:06pm and she grimaces, it's rather embarrassing to have fallen asleep so early, these days she is rarely gets to bed before midnight. The doorbell rings out again and Serena frowns and stands, making her way towards the door. Serena doesn't know who would be outside her house at 11pm on Christmas Eve; Eleanor has her own key but she is staying with Adrienne tonight and they're both probably already fast asleep. None of her colleagues know where she lives. Except one.

If Edward dares darken her doorstep tonight, Serena decides that she won't be held responsible for her actions. Turning on the hall light to let her visitor know she's coming, Serena shuffles down the hallway and blearily opens the front door. To her initial relief, it's not Edward. Instead, she has two visitors, a middle-aged man and a younger, dark blonde woman. Serena doesn't recognise them but she does recognise the uniforms that they're wearing and the initial relief evaporates.

"Mrs. Campbell?" Serena nods, too tired to correct them about her title – she isn't married any more - and it's probably not important. "PC Frances and PC Harvey, may we come in?"

**…...**

**AN2: I would love to know what you thought of this and whether you think that this is worth continuing? Any guesses as to what's happened? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thank you all very much for your kind words and feedback so here is the second chapter, this isn't the last one, you'd lynch me if it was (you'll know what I mean when you get to the end) but there will only be one or maybe two (probably two) more chapters to go. :-)**

**No, Edward is not dead but it is he is the reason for the Police visit so congrats to those who guessed :)**

**And no, neither Ric or Hanssen were anywhere near at the time. Sorry! ;)**

**…... **

"May we come in?"

Serena reflexively opens her mouth to demand more information before her brain engages and she decides that judging by the grim expressions on the faces of her visitors, this isn't a conversation she wants to have on the doorstep, in full view of the street. A quick glance past the two police officers reveals that they've arrived in an unmarked car at least and she wordlessly steps aside, allowing them into the hall, glad to shut the door behind them – it's a cold night.

"What's happened?" Serena finds her voice and warily regards the two who stare back at her, doing their best to channel Henrik Hanssen at his most inscrutable. "I'm sure it's not a social visit at gone 11 on Christmas Eve. What's happened?" Serena is far too independent to turn into the woman from the Poseidon Adventure, all shrill uselessness and no brains but she's aware that she isn't in as much control as she would like to be and that her voice may be betraying that.

"Mrs. Campbell, your husband, Mr. Edward Campbell..." The man answers and Serena exhales, feeling most of the tension leave her; her ex-husband is probably spending Christmas Eve at a police station for being drunk and disorderly. The younger woman, PC Harvey looks curiously at Serena's response but she isn't surprised that they're here about Edward, she's just relieved it isn't Adrienne or Eleanor.

"He's not my husband, we're divorced." She interrupts, answering tersely, her relief giving way to annoyance. "What has he gone and done now?"

"Perhaps we could have this chat somewhere a little more comfortable?" The man, Serena has forgotten his name already speaks again, giving nothing away. She makes a show of looking at her watch, reminding them that it's late before she concedes, leading the two of them down the hall, conscious of her attire.

She steps into the living room before she remembers the empty glass of wine on the coffee table and grimacing, Serena realises that she can't hide it in the kitchen, the two police officers are blocking her path. She takes a deep breath, determined to appear outwardly unconcerned, after all it's Christmas and even if it wasn't, a glass of wine isn't a crime. Serena takes the armchair and the two visitors perch on the sofa, failing to look relaxed in their uniforms. She deliberately doesn't offer any tea or coffee and after glancing at her watch again, the man speaks, apparently taking the hint.

"You work with Mr. Campbell?" He asks and Serena frowns, it wasn't what she was expecting him to say.

"Yes." Her answer is succinct and the man nods distractedly and Serena gets the impression that he was already aware of the fact.

"What's your relationship at work with Mr. Campbell?"

"I hardly see the necessity of this. What's he gone and done now?" Serena asks, not entirely bothered by whatever Edward has done or been caught doing; in fact, she'd much rather just go to bed than have to stay up and deal with Edward's almost certainly drunken stupidity. The man repeats his question and after a few second of staring at each other, Serena huffs. She won't get rid of these two by just staring at them and she concedes, wanting to get it over with so she can go to bed. "Mr. Campbell and I are colleagues at Holby General Hospital," she starts, keeping it formal. "He was a locum consultant anaesthetist for General Surgery and Acute Admissions wards. I am a consultant general surgeon and so we would sometimes work together in theatre." She decides not to mention her role as Executive CEO, tonight it would probably be more trouble than it's worth to mention.

"_Was _a locum anaesthetist?" The man makes a note and asks without looking up which Serena finds rather rude.

"He still is. Technically." She adds the last bit under breath so the police can't hear. "Mr. Campbell is currently subject to an internal disciplinary investigation which I am not willing to discuss." Her silence is more than Edward deserves, considering his treatment of her but it definitely isn't the police's business. The policeman looks up and his expression indicates that he wants to argue but Serena summons her finest glare and he seems to reconsider, dropping the unasked question.

"I see." The man makes a show of checking something in his notepad and Serena rolls her eyes. "And you are currently in a relationship with Mr. Campbell?" The question was unexpected but years of dealing with difficult colleagues, patients and Eleanor have allowed her to mask her surprise.

"Divorced." She repeats in a tone she reserves for F1s. "For 13 years now." Serena adds, pausing for a moment as she realises that she has now been divorced for as long as she was married and that she's been a Campbell for 4 or 5 years longer than she was ever a McKinnie. She looks up to find the silent female PC watching her and Serena meets her gaze, staring until the other woman looks away.

"So you said," the man, Frances – Serena suddenly recalls his name – responds in a slightly patronising tone of voice. "However, we were under the impression that you and Mr. Campbell had resumed your relationship?" Serena frowns, wondering how the man had discovered that information or even how it's relevant to their visit tonight.

"No."

"You are listed as his next of kin..."

Serena amends her answer, elaborating as the man looks up from his notepad with a frown. "Not any more. We had been seeing each other but not any more – our relationship ended this evening." That's more than enough of her personal life being discussed with strangers and Serena is rapidly losing what little patience she had to start with. "Listen, I have had a busy day at work and I'm really quite tired so please explain why you're here or leave – I should like to go to bed sometime before breakfast."

"Very well." The man sits forward, the notepad perched on his knee temporarily forgotten. "Mr. Campbell was attacked earlier this evening."

"What?" Serena asks, mouth open in surprise but she knows that she didn't mishear. "Where? When? Is he okay?" She knows that the questions are in the wrong order and she runs a hand through her hair as she attempts to absorb the information.

"Mr. Campbell suffered a stab wound to the upper torso, however, his condition is said to be stable but critical." The man explains gently and Serena immediately determines that Edward will be somewhere on Darwin, in the capable hands of Jac Naylor or Elliot Hope and she breathes a small sigh of relief.

"When did this happen? I was only speaking to him a couple of hours ago."

"On the hospital grounds." Her eyebrows raise involuntarily as she realises that Edward hadn't even made it off the hospital site before being attacked. "He was found by a nurse and a doctor coming off shift."

"Do you know who did this?"

"We are still trying to establish what happened." Serena can picture her ex-husband striding along, looking completely relaxed as she drove past him and part of her wishes that she had offered him a lift. She wonders whether it was Dr. Tressler and Nurse Carter who found him, but whoever it was, it won't have done their Christmas Eve any favours.

Serena nods distractedly, she is weighing up the pros and cons of telling Eleanor and Adrienne sooner rather than later. Edward has already had too much of a negative impact this year and Serena is loathe to let this news ruin their Christmas but on the other hand, when Eleanor finds out that Serena already knew – especially if the worst should happen – her daughter may never forgive her. She puts her head in her hands, suddenly feeling rather queasy.

No matter how angry she was at Edward several hours earlier, Serena wouldn't ever genuinely wish him any harm and the thought that she had been fast asleep on her sofa whilst he'd been wheeled into theatre was rather sobering and leaves her feeling conflicted. Serena hears the female PC finally speak, offering to get her a glass of water; she nearly quips that she'd prefer a glass of wine but holds her tongue, now isn't the time for flippant humour and she nods meekly.

"Thank you." A minute or so later, a glass tumbler is pushed into her hands and Serena looks up, catching the quick glance between the two police officers. She watches them walk into the kitchen but she barely pays it any notice as the day starts to replay itself and Serena attempts to work out who could have stabbed Edward as she sips at her drink.

She can't help the part of her which wonders if she might have been too hasty to ditch Edward; he might be Holby's biggest moron (in fact, he could well be the _world's_ biggest moron) but she does still love him and Serena hates the fact that despite everything he has done to her and Eleanor, she still loves him.

Unbidden the memories of Edward confessing to an affair with Mary-Claire; Edward swearing blind that he hadn't been drinking; Edward confessing that he had had a drink begin to replay and it's the push Serena needs to remind herself that she cannot allow herself to associate with Edward Campbell any more. It's the same old pattern repeating itself, Edward getting himself into trouble and trying to drag Serena down with him, ever since their wedding and she knows that she was right to get rid of him.

Realising that she's finished her drink, Serena looks around, unaware that she was still alone in the living room and she stands, picking up her wine glass in the other hand; she can hear one of the police officers making a call in the kitchen but she can't hear what they're saying and she walks through anyway, wondering if they have an update on Edward's situation.

"Do you know if..." Serena walks into the kitchen, halfway through asking whether they know anything more about Edward when she trails off as her brain catches up and she takes in the scene in font of her.

The female police officer had been on her phone but hangs up when Serena enters the room and she frowns when she spots the woman wearing disposable gloves. Her initial attention is drawn to the woman's sombre face before her gaze travels down to the worktop surface next to her.

Serena sees what looks like her shirt in a see-through plastic bag and automatically looks to the washing machine; the door is open and it's empty – the shirt had been the only item in it. She takes another step or two further into the kitchen, depositing her glasses down on the island in the middle of the room and she realises that there is a second bag next to her blood-stained shirt.

Containing the kitchen knife she cut herself on earlier in the evening which she hadn't cleaned.

"Hang on." Serena's stomach lurches as she realises what they're thinking. "Whatever you're thinking-"

"Mrs. Campbell," Serena spins around to see the other police officer behind her. "I am arresting you on suspicion of the attempted murder of Edward Campbell..."

**… …**

**AN: Expecting that?**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hey everyone. I know it's been a while, life's been busy; I've had a big job interview to prepare for and that's taken the last three weeks of my spare time. However, the good news is I got the job so it was worth it. I don't start until May (the budgets kick in after the start of the new financial year) so I've got lots of writing to catch up on and a bit of time to do it in.**

**This is just a short chapter to whet the appetite and get me back into the swing of things.**

**Thank you for your kind reviews so far, I hope you enjoy this chapter and would love to know what you think. :-)**

**…... **

"_Mrs. Campbell," Serena spins around to see the other police officer behind her. "I am arresting you on suspicion of the attempted murder of Edward Campbell..."_

The man had drawn up next to her and all Serena could do was to stare at him, blinking blankly as he tiredly recites the phrase that everyone is familiar with thanks to endless re-runs of mediocre TV crime dramas but that she never expected to hear directed at herself. "You do not have to say anything. However, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

Wordlessly, she is led back through her living room and down her own hallway, Serena's socked feet silent compared to the clunky tread of the thick set man next to her. They pause by the front door so that she can pull on her boots and she does, mechanically completing the action. As she zips up the second boot, the female police officer pushes past her, exchanging a couple of quiet words with her colleague, too quiet for Serena to hear before she holds up the see-through evidence bags containing her shirt and kitchen knife and then heads outside, talking into her police radio again.

As Serena stands, the policeman holds out one of Eleanor's coats towards her and Serena shakes her head, ignoring the man's expression as she picks up her own from the hook on the wall, pulling the garment on, grateful for its familiar weight. Automatically sticking her hands in her pockets, Serena's fingers trace the familiar shapes of her mobile phone and keys.

"I didn't do it."

She speaks up.

"I didn't stab Edward."

She sounds uncertain to her own ears and repeats herself with more conviction as she looks to the policeman, imploring him to believe her and realise that it's all a mistake.

"That's what everyone says." The man doesn't even bother to look at her, checking his watch instead as he responds in a bored tone of voice. "Anyway, it's for my colleagues down at the station to decide. There's procedure to be followed, I'm sure you understand." A gentle but firm hand on her elbow steers her towards the still-open front door and as soon as it is shut and locked behind them, Serena is led down the short path and out into the waiting car.

**…... **

The journey from her house to Holby's Police station isn't a long one but Serena spends it in a bit of a daze, almost as if she is disconnected from the situation she's somehow found herself in, as if she is a viewer watching the events unfold on a screen instead of participating in them.

Serena is sat in the back of the car, next to the policeman whilst the female officer drives, navigating the quiet estate with ease as they head towards the centre of Holby. She hadn't been handcuffed for which Serena was inordinately thankful, she knew that she was innocent, that she hadn't attacked Edward and she got the feeling that the policeman next to her wasn't entirely convinced. Serena had immediately sought to exploit his uncertainty, she'd reasserted her innocence outside the car, quiet enough so that any neighbours still awake wouldn't hear but with more confidence than before and he'd actually looked at her this time, with something she can't place in his expression.

"That's for my colleagues to decide." He'd repeated after a long moment and Serena's shoulders had slumped.

The dark Vauxhall Astra pulled into a large car park at the back of the tall Police station and once they are parked, Serena is marched into a side entrance, through what feels like a warren of quiet corridors before they reach the front desk.

The sergeant on the desk looks up and exchanges an unenthusiastic greeting with the two officers escorting her before his gaze lands on her and his eyes rove over Serena in a way that she doesn't like; it reminds her of Edward's leer.

She is taken into a side room, one which is similar to the side room on Keller but without the constant beeping machinery that the hospital boasts. Another police officer joins them, a female with short, dark hair and she offers a wry comment about someone called 'Adrian' which provokes a laugh from the assembled police as they sign forms, transferring her like a piece of cattle.

"Right, that's that then – we'll probably see you in a bit anyway. Happy Christmas." The two police officers who came to her house leave offer an utterly unconvincing response before disappearing back into the warren of corridors and Serena sneaks a look at her watch.

12:07am.

Christmas Day.

Christmas Day and Serena is currently being asked to provide her fingerprints and a DNA sample. "I didn't do it." Serena shakes her head, again reiterating her innocence. "I'm a doctor for God's sake, I wouldn't-"

"Makes no difference to me what you are," the man shrugs, cutting her off. "You're under suspicion of murder."

"Attempted murder." The dark-haired police officer corrects without looking up from the form she is writing on. "He's not dead yet." the woman's casual and utterly indifferent comment about Serena's ex-husband shocks her.

"Attempted murder then." The sergeant concedes and goes on to explain that she has no choice under English law, that she could refuse permission to provide a blood or urine sample but not if she's under suspicion of drink-driving. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." He waves a hand in the direction of the table and Serena notices that the other police officer has stopped writing and put down the clipboard, obviously ready to help her colleague if she needs to and Serena is forced to concede. It doesn't take long and once it's complete, her coat is taken along with her belt and the pockets emptied.

"One Blackberry mobile phone, one set of keys, one cigarette lighter and about £5 in various coins." Her watch and necklace are also taken and added to the pile which is then bagged in another see-through plastic bag and the duty sergeant ticks them off on his list.

The dark-haired police officer is looking at her oddly, the woman's gaze travelling across her skin and Serena realises with a sinking feeling that there several bruises and a couple of other marks which Edward left in his enthusiasm last night – which seems like a lifetime away – and Serena's embarrassment and humiliation at Edward's hands reaches new depths.

The police officer insists on taking photos of the hand-shaped marks and Serena fleetingly thinks that if Edward survives, she may just kill him herself but puts a stop to that line of thought, considering where she is.

"Right, you can be held for up to 24 hours without charge and we can get that extended if we need to. We aim to question you within six hours of your arrival here..." Serena barely listens to the rest, her mind stuck repeating the part about being held for 24 hours – the whole of Christmas Day – she needs to let Eleanor and her mother know but is immediately torn, she doesn't want them to know what's happened. "...and your possessions will be kept safe. Any questions?"

Any questions Serena may have had are lost, the side room door bursts open and two male police officers are wrestling with another man who is intent on not cooperating and turning the air blue with his language and abuse; Serena frowns, it's clear that the man is under the influence of some kind of drug and the duty sergeant calls to the dark-haired woman who joined them recently to remove Serena and he goes to help his colleagues.

Usually Serena is able to stand up for herself, to demand a phone call but this situation is so removed from one that she has any experience with and she's found herself withdrawing into her shell as she mentally scrabbles for any kind of purchase. Tell-tale black ink still staining her fingertips, Serena feels like Lady Macbeth as she is led by the dark-haired woman down a flight of stairs and along a corridor before stopping outside a door.

She feels sick when she realises what the room is.

"Someone will be along to interview you at some point and I'll be checking on you every so often so don't try anything." Taking Serena's silence as her answer, the police officer ushers her in, slamming the door behind her, the metallic clunk of the lock engaging almost painfully loud in the otherwise silent room and Serena is left alone.

The lighting is muted, several watts less than the familiar yet harsh lighting levels at the hospital. Eyes tracing the outline of the door, Serena turns to survey the room she's in.

There is a cot bolted to one of the walls, it doesn't look particularly comfortable or clean and Serena's gaze moves on to the rest of the spartan room. There isn't anywhere else to sit and she reluctantly approaches the cot, the smell of old sweat making her scrunch her face but she perches on it for a few minutes before it becomes uncomfortable and she shuffles backwards until her back hits the wall and Serena draws her knees up towards her, trying to ignore the ambient smell as she folds her arms around herself.

A single tear escapes and makes its way slowly down her face but Serena makes no effort to remove it, instead tracing its path by the sensation as it crosses her skin. As gravity draws it down past her nose and mouth towards the line of her jaw, it eventually drips, vanishing as it's soaked up in her clothing and as it does, Serena promises herself that it is the final tear she will ever shed for Edward Campbell. After nearly thirty years of him dragging her down, this is the final straw.

And despite the thoughts racing around her mind, somehow Serena manages to fall into an uneasy, fitful sleep.

**…... **

**AN2: Safe to say that Serena is a little shaken; there's still no resolution yet, the interview is coming up and it doesn't quite go to plan...**

**A question for you all, do you want Edward to live or do you want him killed off?**

**Would love to know what you thought :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Well, it's been a while, hasn't it!**

**Several reasons for the delay in updating anything, without going into the minutiae of it all, I've been busy, both work and life hadn't left me much time for writing. I also wanted a period of time away to see if I still wanted to write, if I still enjoyed it. **

**Turns out I do. **

**The original draft for this chapter was a monster so it's been split up into different chapters otherwise we'll all lose the will to live. No promises on the date of the next update but it won't be too long a wait, I hope.**

**Would love to know what you thought of this and any other feedback you have :)**

**… …**

"How is he?"

The almost subdued voice from the doorway makes Ric look up, interrupting his silent contemplation of the patient lying in the bed in front of him. He shuts the folder in his hands labelled, 'Edward Campbell', offering it to Guy Self, the newcomer who accepts it, eyes flicking left-to-right as he skim reads through the information.

"About as stable as we can hope for at the moment," Ric speaks after a moment, frowning as he adds, "he's been very lucky."

From what Ric can tell, 'lucky' would appear to be Edward's middle name; the man swans through life without any concern for the consequences of his actions; for the most part falling on his feet when things do go wrong; and, to Ric's personal frustration, manage to charm ruthlessly logical women like Serena into apparently losing their reason and acting like–

"Has anyone spoken to Serena yet?" The new CEO's question breaks Ric's slightly bitter train of thought and he shakes his head.

"Not yet," he answers, "I'll try her again in a moment."

"Right. Well, let me know when you do get hold of her." Guy Self passes the folder back. "I trust we're doing everything we can – we want the best possible care for one of our own."

"Of course."

Guy Self leaves the side room with a nod and Ric is left alone with Edward; it's silent other than the rhythmic beeping from the monitor as Edward lies still, apparently unaware of his surroundings. Carefully observing the man's passive features, Ric is still unable to see quite what Serena sees in him.

"One of our own." Mutters Ric, mimicking the neurosurgeon who had apparently, conveniently forgotten that he'd suspended the anaesthetist several hours ago.

Although it had been a surprise – to put it mildly – to see quite _who_ was being wheeled into the AAU operating theatre with some rather nasty looking stab wounds, it would appear that Edward's luck hadn't quite run out, the surgery had been relatively straightforward and Ric had found himself forgetting that he knew his patient as he fell into the familiar routine of emergency theatre, calmly stemming bleeds and assessing any damage.

Ric had spent far longer outside theatre than in it, dealing with the Police as they wait for Edward to regain consciousness and he'd overheard one of the constables tell their colleague that a suspect was already in custody as Edward Campbell, ex-husband and partner of Serena Campbell – the hospital's second-in-command – was being wheeled into a side room to give him and Serena (when she arrived) some privacy.

The only problem was that nobody could get hold of Serena Campbell.

Ric picks up his phone and scrolls down to Serena's number and presses 'call'. Once again after ringing several times, the automated voice mail picks up and Ric hangs up instead of leaving a message. The slight sense of unease continues to gnaw away at him when nobody picks answers Serena's home phone number either – apart from when she's in theatre or a board meeting, Ric has never known Serena not to answer a call, she almost always has her mobile phone on her and as he turns to leave the side room, he wonders, not for the first time that evening, quite why Serena isn't answering.

About an hour later, after mulling the whole, rather peculiar situation over in his head as he tackles some of the paperwork generated by Edward's admission, Ric decides that when his shift is over, he'll pop round to Serena's house and tell her about Edward in person, it's the least he can do.

**… …**

Serena is woken when a loud and violent (judging by the sound of things) drunk is put into the cell next to her and she is momentarily disorientated, she isn't in her own bedroom or living room and it takes a few moments before she recognises where she is and the events of the last few hours come flooding back to her.

She is in a small cell which reeks of stale alcohol and sweat, somewhere in the bowels of Holby Police Station at – Serena looks at her watch only to find her wrist bare, her watch taken by the custody Sargent earlier – some time in the morning on Christmas Day. She'd been arrested on suspicion of Edward's attempted murder despite being nowhere near him when he'd been attacked.

'If I was going to kill him, I would have done it long before now', Serena thinks to herself, recalling the first time Serena caught Edward cheating on her. She makes little effort to quell the anger at her situation she's found herself in all because of Edward. Yet again, even comatose in a hospital bed miles away from her, he has humiliated her and she wants nothing more to do with him.

Although Serena knows, intellectually, that being angry isn't going to help her get out of this situation, it is preferable to crying and after a few more silent curses and empty threats, she makes herself take a couple of calming breaths, willing the emotion to subside so she can think logically – she can always lose her temper properly later on. It's hardly a secret that Serena has built part of her professional reputation on damage limitation, her ability to manipulate the situation and others into an agreeable outcome – indeed, it's one reason why Henrik Hanssen offered her a job – what she needs is a plan as she looks to approach the most important next few hours of her life.

Deep in thought, Serena doesn't hear the metallic clunk from somewhere to her left as the viewing slot in the cell door is opened. The skin on the back of her neck begins to prickle and some kind of sixth sense makes her look up and she visibly jumps, trying not to be startled by the partially revealed face staring at her. The face offers her a cup of tea and something to eat and the cheese sandwich, when it arrives is dry and uninspiring but she manages to finish it, washing the taste away with her now lukewarm tea.

"Have you had a phone call yet?" Serena shakes her head and is immediately offered one.

"What time is it?" She looks at her currently bare wrist out of habit and it takes half a second to process the fact that she doesn't have her watch on her at the moment.

"Err... just coming up to quarter to six."

"Oh..." She is surprised that she managed to sleep at all, let alone for a couple of hours in the stuffy cell. Then again, part of her isn't surprised – her workload in the run-up to Christmas had been ridiculous and the last-minute revelations about Edward and his drinking have exhausted her emotionally too. "I don't know, everyone will still be asleep and I don't want..."

Serena trails off, the policeman nodding his understanding despite the unfinished sentence. Serena doesn't want to ring Adrienne or Eleanor and let them know what's happened, partly pride – she doesn't want anyone knowing about this; but mostly because both her mother and her daughter are liable to freak out – understandably – and do something rash and ill-considered and land themselves in their own trouble. No, Serena decides that for the moment, their ignorance is to her advantage.

After a quick exchange, Serena is left alone for a couple of minutes as the face heads off to find the duty lawyer for Serena's interview and although she had told the policeman that she didn't need or want anyone to hold her hand – her expression had obviously revealed her distaste because it provoked a small smile in response. "It wouldn't hurt to have an ally and surely it'd be better to have help and not need it..."

'Than to need it and not have it', Serena finishes the man's sentence in her head, reluctantly conceding to the suggestion. Some time later, she is out of the cell, trailing behind a different officer as she is led to a different part of the station.

"Sorry everything has taken so long," the new PC speaks as they head up a flight of stairs. "Christmas is rarely quiet but it's been depressingly busy so far this year." Serena doesn't say anything in response, not particularly interested in making small-talk and they lapse into silence until they stop outside a nondescript wooden door.

She is shown into a small side room with faded blue carpet on the floor and numerous Wyvern Police posters pinned to the notice boards which adorn the off-white walls. Although her nose crinkles at the smell of warm dust in the air, Serena finds it the lesser of two evils compared to the stale sweat and alcohol of the cell she'd been in. The small room looks instantly recognisable to her – a reproduction of almost every BBC Police drama since the year dot – the interview room.

An uninspiring man in a ratty old cardigan is already sat down at the table in front of her and he stands, shuffling over towards her as they enter; the PC mutters something about giving them some privacy before retreating – the man introduces himself as the on-duty lawyer. Serena doesn't have a lot of faith in the yawning man, judging by his appearance (neatly ignoring the fact that she probably looks a state herself) and a brief chat with the man does nothing to dispel her apprehension about the upcoming interview.

**… …**

"For the record, Mrs. Campbell," Serena had given up trying to correct the man about her honorific, "in your own words, would you talk us through last night's events." The patronising tone used by the Sargent interviewing her served only to grate against Serena's nerves and she found herself becoming increasingly defensive as the interview progressed.

"After my shift ended, I went to the carol concert with several other staff members." She lists half a dozen colleagues off the top of her head, relaxing a little as she does so – no matter her recent troubles with Mary-Claire Carter, she knows the nurse and other colleagues won't lie to the police and will confirm Serena's attendance.

"But you left early..." The interviewer is apparently unimpressed with her previous answer although she does catch sight of Professor Hope and Dr. Tressler's names written upside down in the notepad before his hand covers it.

"Yes."

"Why?" Serena doesn't want to go into details about Edward, even though her ex-husband is currently lying in a hospital bed, the implosion of their relationship isn't anyone else's business.

"I wasn't exactly in the Christmas mood."

"Where did you go?"

"I went home."

"Can anyone confirm that?" Serena meets the man's gaze and he raises an eyebrow as he waits for her answer.

"I did try to leave without being noticed but it's a busy place so someone probably saw me leave." She fervently hopes that someone saw her head across the car park. "Or at least recognised my car as I left." The Sargent opens his mouth to respond before he pauses and he leans back in his chair, regarding her for a moment.

"Where do you park your car?" It wasn't the follow-up question she'd been expecting and she tells him about her assigned space in front of the hospital's Wyvern entrance. "A personal space?"

"Perk of the job." She informs him dryly.

"Indeed. What's your car registration?" Serena tells him and he writes it down on a new piece of paper, tearing the sheet out of his notepad and handing it to the silent constable next to him with instructions to check the hospital CCTV footage for the staff car park.

"But the CCTV's not working..."

As soon as the words leave her mouth, Serena knows that it's absolutely the wrong thing to say. She can see the cardigan-wearing lawyer to her left deflate slightly and shake his head. There are several long moments of silence in the room and as each second ticks past, Serena feels sick.

The silence continues to stretch and although she knows what tactic the man is using, Serena finds herself compelled to fill the silence and she explains about how Guy Self had told her the day before about the fault in the car park CCTV coverage and had asked her to get onto the maintenance team about repairing it.

"But you didn't do it...?" The Sargent's words, when they are finally spoken are quiet, dangerous and Serena wants a hole to open up beneath her, swallow her up, never to be seen again.

"I did!" Although she tries to tell herself that the information would come out anyway, that it would be better if the police didn't believe she was misleading them or withholding information but she can't help but feel that she's verbally digging herself a grave every time she opens her mouth.

"Right, so it's all fixed now then?"

Serena shakes her head, feeling like she's signing her own death warrant. "They said it was unlikely that anything would be done before the New Year."

"So you _knew_ that there would be no CCTV for near enough ten days, an opportunity to get rid of your ex-husband once and for all presented itself and-"

"No!" Serena's response is emphatic. "Absolutely not." Taking a deep breath, she clasps her hands together under the table, aware of their shaking as the situation threatens to get the better of her. She bites the inside of her lip, trying to rescue the situation and before she knows it, the lie is out of her mouth. "It wasn't that _all_ of the CCTV wasn't working, just one of the cameras covering the staff car park..."

The policeman stares at Serena and she forces herself to meet his gaze, staring back at him.

"Just the one camera?"

"Yes." Trying to draw on her experience at negotiating difficult situations, Serena fills her voice with bravado. "As far as I'm aware, everything else works fine. You'll still be able to see what time I left."

After a nervous couple of seconds, the Sargent sighs and exchanges quiet words with his colleague who leaves the room, the piece of paper with Serena's car numberplate still held tightly in his grasp. Serena watches him leave but her attention is drawn back towards the large man opposite her who sounds less-than-impressed.

"So to recap what happened last night..." He looks down at his notes before looking back up at her. "You finished your shift, you went to the concert and stayed for a little while before leaving unnoticed to head towards your car and left the hospital grounds without seeing or speaking to anyone?"

Serena starts to nod when something occurs to her. "I saw Edward. I drove past him as I left, he was walking towards the exit." The man's eyes narrow and Serena silently concedes that she should probably have mentioned that before. "It was about 7:15 because the Archers had just finished on Radio 4." She adds unnecessarily. "I left the hospital and went straight home."

He makes another note in his pad and Serena can just about distinguish the time written upside down. "Is there anything else you've suddenly remembered?" He asks and Serena barely notices the tone as she racks her brain, trying to recall what happened last night.

_After a couple of songs, Serena had managed to slip away unnoticed, the strains of carols following her until she reaches her car and she jumps in, her breath catching slightly as she takes a couple of deep breaths. Once she's decided that she is finally calm enough to drive, Serena turns the car on and engages reverse a little more forcefully than she needs to. She backs out of her allocated parking space and makes her way off the hospital grounds, not wanting to linger. _

_Just after the main building, she passes a couple of teenagers on the path and about fifteen yards ahead of them, the painfully familiar silhouette of her ex-husband as he walks home, looking as if he hasn't got a care in the world; Serena reflexively slows her BMW as if to offer him a lift but as soon as she realises what she is doing, she deliberately keeps her foot on the accelerator, not slowing until she reaches the exit and she indicates left, towards the ring road and home. _

"Edward was fine when I drove past him." The Sargent's attention returns to his notepad and he makes some more notes which Serena can't decipher.

"Was everything okay at home recently?" The change in topic throws Serena slightly and she answers yes before seeking clarification.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said." The policeman looks up from his notepad, fixing Serena with a searching stare. "How would you have described your relationship with Mr. Campbell?"

"It was fine."

"No problems to report?"

"No."

"It was so _fine_ that you split up yesterday evening." The man's tone is flat but the sarcasm is undeniable, similarly mocking to the way Henrik Hanssen used to speak to her when she'd done something without his supervision. It riles Serena just as much now as the Swede always did but she bites the inside of her mouth until the initial urge to retaliate passes.

"There were extenuating circumstances which only came to light yesterday."

"Which were?"

"It's not important." No matter Edward's faults and there are plenty for Serena to choose from, he doesn't need his situation spread around. As tempting as it is to tell the Policeman about Edward's newly revealed drinking problem, to offer that it was highly likely that her ex-husband was plastered when he was attacked, that he had knowingly endangered a patient by stepping into the operating theatre whilst under the influence of alcohol, she doesn't. Whilst Serena would like to be able to say that her reasons were altruistic, the reality is because she vouched for him and she doesn't want that piece of bad judgement coming to light.

"I'll be the judge of that. So, Mr. Campbell ended the relationship?"

"No." The end of their relationship isn't the police's business but a refusal to answer would be more trouble than it's worth; she doesn't want to start fighting accusations of revenge by a woman scorned. "I called it off. It was a... work-related issue."

"A work related issue? Was there another person involved?"

"No." The invisible wound which represents Edward's affairs never really healed and Serena tries to suppress the hurt the policeman has inadvertently caused, although judging by his curious expression, it wasn't so inadvertent and she wonders who he's been speaking to. "No, there wasn't another person involved in my decision to end the relationship." It's not technically a lie although it is bending the truth somewhat – Nurse Carter played a significant role in the day's events.

"That's interesting," it's clear that he doesn't believe her. "We've spoken to some of your colleagues who seem to suggest otherwise – that you and Mr. Campbell were seen arguing on several occasions." She doesn't know who has gossiped to the police but when she finds out, heads will roll.

"Some of the staff apparently have little better to do than to gossip." Serena is reasonably certain that Mary-Claire Carter is one of the colleagues the Police will have spoken to – the Irish nurse is an incurable gossip - and if that is the case, news of Edward's attack and Serena's arrest will be all over the hospital by now and she immediately silences the voice which begins to panic about the damage to her professional reputation.

"One of them even sent round a memo when Edward joined, telling everyone that he was my ex-husband." Serena hates her private life being discussed by anyone and she'd been apoplectic when she'd finally seen that memo. "So I wouldn't take what they say as Gospel Truth." She finishes, watching the man's hands as he continues to make notes.

"But he _is_ your ex-husband, isn't he?" Serena doesn't answer, instead glaring at the man who appears to have missed the point. "Remind me again, what was this 'work-related issue' which caused _you_ to end your relationship with Mr. Campbell?"

"A complaint was made about Edward's suitability to work." It had taken Serena a couple of moments to work out how to phrase her answer. As a colleague, Serena owes the anaesthetist no favours but their personal history runs deeper; she hates that she still loves her ex-husband, something Edward knew and exploited, she didn't want him dead or his professional reputation ruined.

"And so you dumped him?"

"No, I supported him, vouched for him, defended him..." She shakes her head, mostly at herself – she'd been unable to see what was right in front of her, staring her in the face and she looks down at her hands in her lap, trailing off into silence.

"Did he hurt you?" The question is spoken quietly but clearly and in surprise, Serena looks up to find him removing something from a folder and sliding the contents over the table towards her. Serena's stomach sinks when she recognises the items.

"Would you describe these photos for the tape please, Mrs. Campbell?" Serena doesn't answer, too busy staring at the images in front of her. After some time, obviously becoming impatient at the silence, the policeman answers his own question. "The photos are of your arms and shoulders, Mrs. Campbell, only taken a couple of hours ago and there is visible bruising. Bruising which is consistent with fingermarks. Am I wrong?"

Serena remains silent, continuing to stare at the photos, the dark colours starting to really come out; it was only the other evening that she'd received them. Edward had been particularly amorous and Serena had been caught up in his enthusiasm. It was only later, as they lay side by side in bed that she'd become aware of various muscles protesting and when she'd mock-complained, Edward had looked amused and had proceeded to kiss any tender spots she'd pointed out, the way his lips traced over her skin making her laugh.

"Did he hurt you?" The question breaks Serena's reverie.

"No."

"He hurt you." She shakes her head but the policeman continues. "He hurt you and you wanted to put an end to it. It's understandable."

"It's laughable." She responds, not that Serena finds this particularly amusing; Edward has his many faults but as long as she's known him, violence hasn't ever been one of them.

"Is it?"

"Yes. And yes they're probably fingermarks and if so, they're Edward's but considering that we were in a physical relationship until yesterday, how do you think I got them?" She stops short of mentioning that she probably left her mark on her ex-husband too, before clarifying. "And it was a _consensual_ physical relationship before you start twisting my words."

Any response he may have made is interrupted by the return of his colleague – the one sent to investigate the CCTV footage – and after turning around sharply, the Sargent makes the appropriate announcement to the tape before conversing, too quietly for Serena to hear and something said causes him to look sharply at Serena, his eyes narrowing slightly and she swallows reflexively.

**… …**

**AN2: Would love to know what you thought of this... :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey, thanks for sticking with this. Would love to know what you thought, as always. Apologies for the delay in updating; life has become busy and will continue to be so until October-ish, got two jobs going at once and I've barely got enough time to sleep, let alone write. **

**Or read. There are several stories out there I need to catch up on - I will as soon as I can. :)**

**I don't know when the next update will be but it may be in ten days or so, I'll try to get it up sooner but no promises. I've got chapters for other stories to be posted too, some of them are nearly done, just need a few typos correcting etc. I haven't abandoned any stories; promise.**

**Hope you're all well :)**

**… …**

"And one mobile phone." The custody Sargent deposits the last of Serena's personal effects onto the desk, ticking them off his list as he goes and Serena snatches them all up, squireling them away into their appropriate pockets and places. She barely hears the policeman in front of her as he explains about the ins and outs of the terms of her release, belatedly realising that there is a lull in the one-sided conversation which she is expected to fill, the Sargent looking expectantly at her.

"Yes, yes, okay." He looks unconvinced but not enough to call Serena's bluff, instead pushing a clipboard at her, pointing to where she needs to sign her name.

"Ian here," the Sargent indicates the colleague next to him, "is going your way if you want a lift..." Serena is about to decline before realising that not only is her car parked in front of her house a couple of miles away but that she has a snowball's chance in hell of getting a taxi on Christmas Day morning.

"Thanks."

Stepping out of the Police station and into the pale sunlight, Serena finds she doesn't feel free despite her release – she has washed her hands of Edward twice now but still he tries to drag her down from afar. Serena looks around the mostly-empty car park and is thankful that they head towards one of the few plain cars rather than the more familiar sight of the silver cars with the blue and yellow chequered marking with 'Wyvern Police' emblazoned on the side. The journey back to her house is a silent one save for the regular noises emitted by the myriad radios and communication equipment in the car.

Serena waits until she is back inside the relative safety of her house, leaning heavily against the front door and taking a couple of moments to calm herself, hoping that none of her neighbours had been looking out of their windows just then, curtains twitching as they seek more gossip. It takes a couple of minutes but she begins to feel calmer, hoping that her ordeal is now over and she pushes herself away from the door and walks through he house, finding everything exactly as she left it last night.

A small part of her had had visions of the house having been torn apart by a forensic unit, a thin film of black powder covering everything but there's no sign of any disturbance, her glass of wine still discarded on the side as she wanders through into the kitchen. Ignoring it, she turns back out of the kitchen and up the stairs, heading towards the bathroom and Serena stands under the spray of the shower – turning it up as hot as she can stand, wanting somehow to scrub the last few hours off her skin, still able to smell the police cell although a small rational part of her mind is almost certain it's nothing more than a trick of the mind.

Reluctantly accepting that she can't stay in the shower forever, Serena steps out and dresses before heading back downstairs – the meagre sandwich at silly o'clock this morning wasn't enough and she is hungry again. The doorbell rings mid-way through a mouthful of tea and toast and Serena pauses, before carefully swallowing, trying to work out who would be stood at her door at nearly half past nine on Christmas Day morning. The bell rings again and abandoning her breakfast, Serena heads down the hallway and opens the door.

Ric Griffin is stood in front of her.

There's no denying that she hadn't expected to see him but Serena rather thinks that her colleague looks relieved to see her which surprises her. He opens his mouth as if to say something but when he remains silent, it's left to Serena to speak first.

"Merry Christmas, Ric."

"I, err, yes, you too." Her casual greeting seems to shake Ric out of his trance but when he offers no further response, Serena sighs.

"Why are you here Ric?"

"Can I come in?" Serena stares at Ric for a moment before she steps aside to allow her visitor into the house. It doesn't take long until Ric reveals the reason for his visit. "Edward's been hurt."

Serena sighs to herself.

"I already know."

"How?" Her answer has apparently confused him. He shakes his head. "Never mind, I..."

"Yes?"

"Well, I just would have thought you would be at the hospital with him?" Serena wonders briefly quite what it's cost Ric to utter that sentence without any tone attached to it, it doesn't take much to spot the friction between the two men.

"Why would I?" Ric is starting to look a little wary; Serena didn't mean for her response to sound _quite_ so cold but after the previous twenty four hours, she isn't in the mood to play nicely.

"Well, you and he are..."

"We're what? Actually no, don't answer that." Serena runs a hand through her hair before she issues a short explains. She trusts Ric and she doesn't object to his knowing about her second separation from Edward _per se_ but since the humiliation of Edward's infidelity was spread all over the hospital they worked at just over ten years ago, she has resolutely kept her personal life hidden from her colleagues. "Edward and I are not anything and that is the end of the matter." Ric looks surprised and his expression indicates that he wants to ask about their separation but wisely doesn't give voice to that question. .

"But he's Eleanor's father."

"A fact I can't forget." This is neither the time nor the place for_ that_ conversation. "What did you want, Ric? I do have things to do today."

"As do I – I actually came here to see if you were okay." He sounds prickly, apparently her response had irritated him. "Because I tried ringing you when he was admitted but I wasn't able to get hold of you at all and I've never known you _not_ to answer a phone or return a call." Serena swallows nervously and looks to deflect Ric's curiosity.

"Well, as you can see, _I'm_ fine. The world doesn't revolve around Edward, no matter what he thinks and I certainly won't be rushing off to sit at his bed like some lovesick lapdog." Ric's expression causes Serena to stop and backtrack slightly. "That said, I take it he'll survive?"

Ric fills her in on the details about Edward's condition and Serena nods as he talks. She offers a slightly rude response to Ric's assessment of Edward being lucky which draws a smile from her colleague.

"The police were still waiting for him to regain consciousness when I left but they did say that they have a suspect in custody already." Serena flinches at how quickly news of the arrest has spread, Ric notices her reaction but he doesn't say anything, apparently attributing her response to her relationship with Edward rather than at the knowledge that she was the suspect in custody.

"Serena, I know you'll get angry if anyone as much as hints that you're some kind of a damsel in distress but you _are_ human and there's no shame in wanting to talk about it. So when you want to talk..." he trails off, not needing to finish the sentence, both of them know what he means. Serena thanks him but has no intention of taking up her colleague's offer and opens the front door.

He wishes her a merry Christmas as he takes a step towards the open door before turning back and pressing a kiss to her cheek and then leaving. As she watches him go, Serena tells herself it's just her imagination that Ric's lips lingered a fraction of a second longer than necessary.

Serena stares at the closed door for a few moments after he's gone, wondering quite what Ric's visit was really about; she doesn't doubt that he was being truthful when he wanted to find out if she way okay but she can't help but feel that there's something she's missing. Her musing is interrupted by the ringing of the house phone and diving into the living room to answer it, Serena tries not to sound as out-of-breath as she feels.

"Mum!" It's Eleanor on the other end. "I've been trying to call you, where have you been?"

**… …**

**AN2: Would love to know what you thought. Just a small review - it would make me feel all warm and fuzzy :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: So... it's been a while. I've had exams which have taken precedence over pretty much everything else and life's just been busy elsewhere too.**

**The good news is that I passed my exam and I have a day off to do some writing :)**

**Only a couple more chapters on this one left, it's only a short one but if you're still reading this, a quick review (even if it's only 'hi') just so I know it's worth finishing off would be really great. Thanks.**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 6.

"_Mum!" It's Eleanor on the other end of the phone. "I've been trying to call you, where have you been?"_

"Mum!" Her daughter's repeated greeting is part excited and part exasperated.

"Merry Christmas, Ellie." Serena is pleased to hear Eleanor's voice – a beacon of normalcy in amongst the madness of the previous 24 hours.

"Yeah, yeah, to you too, Mum. Where have you been?" Serena stops stock still at Eleanor's question, for a moment having no idea what to say but despite that, a heartbeat later, she find herself speaking.

"Not near my phone, obviously." It isn't technically a lie, she just didn't have any access to the device. "And besides, it's Christmas and I have the day off, who would be ringing me?" As a Consultant General Surgeon and the Deputy CEO of a hospital the size of Holby General Hospital, the list of calls she could receive is just as long as any other day but to her relief, Eleanor doesn't seem to realise that.

"Oh yeah, I guess so. When are you coming over?"

Finally a question that Serena can answer honestly and she estimates an answer. "Ok, cool, I'm going to try ringing Dad again – I tried earlier but his phone was switched off." Serena is all too aware of why that is but has no idea what to say to her daughter about it and elects to remain silent on the subject for the moment.

After a couple more exchanges and promises of being there soon, Eleanor hangs up, thankfully still oblivious to either of her parents' ordeals and Serena sighs, rubbing her eyes – she doesn't know whether to keep news of Edward's attack from Eleanor and let her daughter enjoy her Christmas but inevitably incur amateur dramatics at a later date when Eleanor does find out or whether she should tell Eleanor as soon as possible and have Edward's actions ruin the day yet again.

She's stubbornly refusing to think about Ric's visit.

Serena is no closer to an answer a couple of hours after she'd arrived at Adrienne's house. She'd been putting on a brave face, trying to act unaffected and although Eleanor could tell something wasn't quite right, Serena made no move to correct her daughter's muttered suspicion that it was her still recent split from Edward causing it rather than her even more recent arrest for his attempted murder.

"So what's wrong, Rena?"

Adrienne asks casually when it's just the two of them left in the kitchen, Eleanor having been dispatched into the sitting room to determine if anything on the TV listings is worth watching or whether a DVD would be a better bet. Serena smiles humourlessly, she should have known her Mum would try something like this.

"Nothing. I'm fine." She answers automatically without looking up from stacking the dishwasher but hears her mother exhale softly and mutter something too quietly for Serena to hear. She lets the comment go, pretty sure she doesn't want to know what Adrienne just said.

"Is this about Edward?" Serena shoots Adrienne a sharp look which her mother doesn't see, her back temporarily turned away as she picks up the final few plates from the table. "Eleanor told me last night that you'd split up again – she didn't know why but is that it? You've barely touched your wine today."

Serena raises an eyebrow.

"I'm not saying I expected you to jump headlong into a bottle but even before," Adrienne tilts her head and rolls her hands to refer to her and Edward's divorce, "even before you never-"

"Mum."

Adrienne stops mid-sentence and Serena looks down at her hands; she had scrubbed them until they were pink as she removed the ink stains from her skin and even though she didn't attack Edward, she still feels somewhat irrationally like a guilty, sleepwalking Lady Macbeth.

"Out damned spot." She mutters to herself.

"What?" Her mother had obviously caught her quiet exclamation and Serena looks around at the doorway, there's no sign of Eleanor and her daughter isn't usually light-footed but she is bothered by the possibility of Eleanor overhearing anything Serena is about to say. She weighs up what to say, hands on the cool kitchen counter with her head hanging heavily on her shoulders.

"I'll put the kettle on."

Thankfully Adrienne seems to realise that Serena is more affected by what's on her mind than she'd first guessed and Serena stays silent as she hears her Mum potter around the room, preparing their drinks.

It doesn't take long before they're sat at the old, familiar table and Serena watches the steam from the tea swirl as it rises. Adrienne waits, knowing better than to try and force Serena into talking; she's often wryly observed that Serena could teach stubbornness to rocks.

"It's been a rather awful 24 hours." Serena eventually confesses quietly.

"Because of Edward?" Adrienne asks and now that's she's listening carefully, Serena can detect a hint of distaste when she hears her ex-husband's name.

"No. Yes." She can see that her mother wants to say something but nonetheless Adrienne keeps quiet as Serena explains about Edward's drunken mistake in theatre, his suspension and then about attack in a low, clinical tone of voice but leaves out the bit about her run-in with the Police. "Don't say anything to Eleanor."

"Is that wise?"

"Probably not," Serena concedes. "But it's Christmas – I don't want Edward ruining anything else this year. I know I'll have to tell Eleanor soon but until then..."

"Tell Eleanor what?"

**… …**

"_Tell Eleanor what?"_

As Serena looks up, her heart sinks; Eleanor's return to the kitchen waving a DVD case in front of her which slowly lowers as the teenager suspiciously surveys the scene in front of her.

"Is this about Dad?"

"I, err..." A quick glance at Adrienne doesn't help – Serena's mother is avoiding her gaze.

"What's happened? Why wouldn't he answer his phone? Do you _know_ something?"

"How about a cup of tea, dear." Adrienne cuts in, it isn't a question and Serena watches her daughter's gaze follow Adrienne as she moves over to refill the kettle. The interruption gives Serena a couple of moments to gather her thoughts, no matter Eleanor's impatience, she won't risk being rude to Adrienne.

"For once it's not his fault." Serena mutters, grimacing to herself – she can't get out of answering Eleanor's questions now, her hand has been forced by her daughter's unfortunate timing and therefore, deliberately omitting a few details, Serena explains about Edward's hospitalisation.

"Can we go and see him?"

"It's past visiting hours now."

"Can we go tomorrow then?" Serena hesitates and can see that her daughter's picked up on her indecision – Eleanor has the McKinnie temper and it's something Serena doesn't want sparked; she doesn't want anyone's Christmas to be ruined by an argument developing, Eleanor's resentment burning, fuelled by hurt feelings.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. No, no, listen. Dad is stable but I don't think that he'd want you to see him like this." It's partly true, partly because it will have been an enforced dry period for her ex-husband and she doesn't know what state he'll be in and Serena wants to protect Eleanor from _that_ truth for as long as possible. She exhales slowly, annoyed that she is still making excuses for Edward. "He'll be more coherent tomorrow and on less drugs – I'll get him to call you instead?"

"And before you ask why I hadn't already told you," she has Eleanor's complete attention now, "we were trying to work out whether to let you enjoy the rest of the day before telling you and possibly spoiling your Christmas."

Eleanor pauses, blinking a couple of times and Serena can almost see the cogs turning in the teenager's mind. In the end, Eleanor's response had been more mature than Serena had expected – University has apparently been good for her daughter and almost immediately she feels a pang of something unidentifiable – her daughter is growing up.

**… …**

Boxing Day morning found Serena heading back into work at Holby General Hospital, a grey overcast day does little to lift her spirits and her mood is not improved by the news she receives when she steps into her office.

A summons to the CEO's office on the fifth floor is not what she wants to put up with and she deliberately puts her bag on top of the post-it note, in a childish attempt to delay the inevitable. After heading around the frustratingly quiet and efficient ward, unable to find anything to do – all is as it should be – Serena's gaze is caught again by the brightly-coloured sticker and she sighs, resigning herself, unable to ignore it any longer. Exiting the lift and walking along the familiar corridor, she pauses outside the office which has been hers on a couple of occasions but never permanently to her private bitterness. Pushing the annoyance away – it won't help her now – she knocks, wanting to get whatever this is over with.

"Ah Serena," she's greeted with a decidedly false smile and for a brief half-moment, she finds she misses Henrik Hanssen, although they never really got on but she thinks she prefers the Swede's cool yet genuine treatment of her compared to the fake brand of superficiality she receives from his replacement. "Come in, come in – we were just discussing you."

'We?'

Serena's silent question is answered as her gaze moves from Guy Self to the second figure in the room – the head of HR.

**… …**

**AN2: An appearance by the head of the mythical HR department isn't usually a good sign...**

**Would love to know what you thought! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Still going, a quick little update so that it isn't too long between updates, I will also try to get some chapters posted (well, written and finished first) for other stories and there are still some outstanding one-shots to come along too.**

**I reckon there are two chapters left after this one :)**

Chapter 7.

"_Come in, come in – we were just discussing you."_

The head of HR looks about as pleased to see Serena as Serena is to see her.

"Serena, this is-"

"We've met." Serena interrupts with a deliberate smirk, the last time the two women had crossed paths, it was in fact just after Guy Self had tactlessly revealed his appointment to the hospital's top job in front of everyone on AAU – she'd read her the riot act, accusing the HR department of many things and almost reducing the hapless woman to tears. "I think." Serena adds dismissively, glad to draw first blood as the woman scowls. To her secret disappointment, the woman remains silent; considering the way the past two days have gone, she's itching for an argument.

"Excellent." If Guy Self notices the tension between the two women, he makes no reference to it and cheerfully carries on with whatever he was going to say, gesturing at a spare seat which Serena takes. "So, Serena, how was your Christmas?"

The moment after the question registers feels like a lifetime but the rational part of Serena's mind tells her it can't have been more than a second or two. It feels like her heart has missed a beat as the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place and she drops into the chair unceremoniously.

The HR woman – Serena can't actually remember her name – is looking like she has had the temerity to personally and deliberately cause her all kinds of extra work and suddenly Serena's adrenal gland goes into overdrive as she fears that the Police have told the hospital about her arrest and that she is about to be suspended or sacked on the spot – oddly enough, an arrest for attempted murder never looks good on the CV.

Serena makes a slightly strangled non-committal noise in response to Guy's question and he looks up at her. "Yes, well, quite understandable in the circumstances."

Serena swallows, not wanting to offer any comment before she has to.

"You see, Serena, we have a problem."

"A problem?"

"Yes, staffing issues, a problem with our consultants it seems. Not only are we down a consultant anaesthetist..." He takes a quick breath and continues, no-one in the room needs any reminder of Edward's suspension looming over them. "We're going to be short a consultant general surgeon too."

"Now, normally we wouldn't bring you in on this given the current situation." Serena remains silent, waiting for the axe to fall. "But you know this hospital better than I do at the moment. What I'm proposing is that we keep Ric Griffin as the Clinical Lead on Acute Admissions and you can stay as the Clinical Lead on Keller until this is sorted out?

"Sorted out?" Serena frowns, not quite understanding where this conversation is going, it doesn't appear to be quite as bad as she feared, yet.

"Well, as Ric is already on AAU, it made sense to try not to disrupt anything too much until Mr. Spence's replacement's replacement can make it to us."

"I see." Serena answers but she isn't sure that she does see, confusion reigning.

A stream of possibilities pass through her mind but it occurs to her that perhaps no-one here knows what happened to her after all. The best thing she can do at the moment is continue to act normally, as best she can in the circumstances.

"Well, that's the official reason of course. The real reason is pretty obvious." He eyes her thoughtfully. "Have you been to see Edward yet?"

"No." Serena answers and despite whatever she said to Eleanor last night, she has no intention of speaking to her ex-husband – she'll bully a nurse into making Edward phone Eleanor at some point.

"Well then, we should remedy that." And before Serena can protest, the CEO has turned to the perpetually unimpressed HR woman. "Anything else or can we reconvene later?"

After deciding that there wasn't anything else which needed to be dealt with immediately, the head of HR departs the office, apparently glad to scurry away back to her own area of the hospital, or, more likely, head home – Human Resources are even harder to get hold of between Christmas and New Year than any other time of the year and a couple of minutes later, Serena reluctantly follows Guy Self out of the CEO's office, the latter ignoring her half-resigned protests.

"Huh, well that's strange." Serena hears Guy's surprised comment as he exits the lift onto Keller and she looks at him as she steps out of the enclosed silver carriage half a step before she looks to her right, following his frown.

As soon as Serena's gaze reaches the door on her right, she suddenly understands, her stomach plunging to somewhere in her boots. Stepping out of the ICU towards them is an unfortunately familiar figure, of PC Frances – the Police Officer who arrested her less than 36 hours earlier.

There's no opportunity to duck away onto the ward, especially not with Guy Self stood next to her and the policeman's gaze travels from Guy Self onto Serena, his eyes widening slightly as they land on her but he recovers quickly.

"Mrs. Campbell." He greets her and Serena can feel the questioning gaze of Guy Self on her.

**AN2: Just a short chapter to keep things ticking over. Only a couple left to go and Serena comes face-to-face with Edward next time...**

**Would love to know what you thought :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Penultimate chapter. Is Serena's luck finally turning?**

**Onwards!**

**... ... **

Chapter 8.

"Mrs. Campbell."

The policeman greets her, his expression bland and she can feel the questioning gaze of Guy Self boring a hole into the back of her head. Serena returns his greeting just before the CEO jumps into the conversation.

"You two know each other?"

"Mrs. Campbell has been helping us with our enquiries into the attack on Mr. Campbell." Not that it's any of Guy Self's business and judging by the frown on the Policeman's face, he thinks so too.

"You didn't say so." He turns to Serena and she barely resists the urge to roll her eyes.

"Why would I?" Her tone is such that Guy Self looks a little embarrassed.

"Right well, are you done yet?"

"For the moment." The policeman sidesteps the CEO's suddenly petulant tone with an ease borne from familiarity of working with difficult people and Serena finds she doesn't envy the policeman his job. Unaware of her musing, he turns to Serena. "In fact, Mrs. Campbell's information has been most useful." Serena isn't quite sure what he means by that but isn't willing to ask for an explanation. As it is, it doesn't look like she's about to be arrested again so she'll ride what's left of her luck.

'It's been nearly 24 hours without being arrested' a wry voice comments in her head and she reluctantly moves towards the side room only half-hearing the policeman mention something about getting a coffee.

**… …**

Serena steps into Keller's side room with Guy Self just behind her. To her relief, it appears that Edward is asleep, the monitor beeping steadily in response to his heartbeat. It never occurs to Serena that the Policeman would have been speaking to him just moments before they entered. Moving quietly across the room, Serena picks up the notes at the end of the bed and opens the folder.

As she does so, there's a noise at the door and Serena looks up to see a nurse paused on the threshold, the CEO moves to intercept the nurse and the two converse in quiet tones in the doorway and Serena returns her attention to the notes in front of her.

"I was wondering when you'd show up."

Startled, Serena looks up from the folder to find herself alone – Guy Self has apparently made himself scarce and she exhales in frustration. Serena isn't one by nature to put off anything in her professional life because it might be difficult or perhaps awkward but her personal life is almost the complete opposite and she really doesn't want to have this conversation.

"Don't you mean _if_?"

"Nope." Edward grins even though its obvious that he's tired. "I knew you'd be by – can't resist my charm." Serena makes a disgusted sound, there's nobody else on the planet who can wind her up as effectively as Edward can but what annoys her most about his arrogant statement is the fact that Edward is right – no matter how much she outwardly acts that she hates her ex-husband, she doesn't – she still loves him.

However, she made herself a promise, sat alone in the custody cell just after midnight on Christmas Day morning and she's determined to stick with it. She turns to leave.

"Serena."

"Edward."

She fires back, her tone making it clear that whatever her ex-husband is about to say, it had better be good. This time it's Edward sighing, reaching out a hand for Serena's; she looks at it, making no move to complete the gesture and after a moment the hand drops out of sight.

"Jokes aside, knew you'd be by eventually, even for me and I'm grateful." The sad thing is, Serena reflects as she looks down at the man lying in the bed in front of her, he does look grateful, absurdly so.

"It's what doctors, most doctors anyway, tend to do." Serena responds spikily, resorting to a comment designed to get Edward's back up – life is simpler when she's arguing with him – the appearance of this slightly contrite and vulnerable man isn't in any way helpful to her resolution.

"That's not all you are." Serena looks down at the folder in her hands. That wasn't the response she wanted.

"Edward, stop." He does and Serena looks back up at him, steeling herself to tell him something she should have spoken up about months, if not years ago. "It's not about me, or Milly-Molly-Mandy or any other girlfriend of yours – it's only ever been about your libido and as far as I'm concerned, that ship has definitely sailed."

"Anything happen while I was in here?" Edward ignores her statement as, if she's honest with herself, she expected him to do.

"Like what?" The snapped question leaves a tense atmosphere, a familiar one between the two, first appearing during their divorce and pretty much ever since until a temporary hiatus as their relationship rekindled recently. "Not everything is about you, Edward."

"Don't you want to know what happened?" Serena waves his notes at him in response.

"I can see what happened; you took a beating and-" she stops suddenly, less than half a breath from mentioning the police and no matter his situation, Serena knows that Edward would find that she'd been arrested funny, hilarious even and she has always hated people laughing at her expense. Especially Edward.

"And I probably deserved it?" Edward quietly fills in Serena's aborted sentence.

"That's not what I meant." Serena protests half-heartedly but can't help thinking that Edward's suspension and beating may just be enough to reign his ego and drinking in – a better-late-than-never wake-up call – and that can only be good for him and others around him – Eleanor especially – in the long run.

Talking of Eleanor, "and you need to ring our daughter and start grovelling for not answering her calls yesterday." Serena then confirms that Eleanor is aware of Edward's hospitalisation and he sighs to himself.

"Lend me your phone then and I'll ring her now. She's not doing anything today, is she?"

"And why can't you use your own phone?" Serena asks testily, expecting to hear an excuse about a lack of battery because he forgot to charge it or the network having deactivated his SIM card for non-payment of bills.

"It was taken," he admits uncomfortably, "along with my wallet and staff card."

Serena is about to ask when they were taken before realising that she already knows the answer – the incident which has lead to nothing but trouble. "At least they didn't take my glasses or I'd have made a spectacle of myself."

"Oh for God's sake, Edward." Serena rolls her eyes as her ex-husband grins; that joke is older than she is and she didn't find it funny the first time he told it either, let alone after nearly thirty years.

"Do the Police know?" The question is automatic and Serena barely hears Edward's mildly sarcastic answer over the feeling of relief that Christmas Eve's incident was nothing more than a robbery and that with the CCTV evidence, she'll no longer be of any interest to the Police.

'Nothing more than a robbery', she repeats silently, _almost _amused at how blasé she's being about a rather serious crime. She frowns as she replays what Edward told her about what was taken, the niggling at the back of her mind intensifying slightly.

"Why on Earth did you still have your access card?" Edward shrugs, grimacing slightly as the action appears to hurt him.

"No-one asked for it and I forgot I still had it with me when I left." Serena opens her mouth to answer only for her breath to catch and she closes it again.

Edward's access card would give whoever had taken it, access to the majority of the hospital, including restricted wards but as Serena's mind turns over, she has a pretty good idea of where the robbers will head once they realise quite what's in their possession.

She digs her mobile out of her pocket and underarm throws it at Edward, ignoring his wince as the device lands on his abdomen and bounces off to one side onto the mattress. "Ring Eleanor. Start grovelling." She turns on her heel, ignoring Edward's questions as she leaves the side-room, striding back onto the ward, instructing a nervous-looking Arthur Digby to get hold of the policeman who'd been in to speak to Edward as well as the hospital security.

Serena's destination isn't on the main ward and it takes her a minute or two to get there but as she approaches, she hears raised voices and wishing that she hadn't been correct, she takes a deep breath and steps into the room.

**... ... **

**AN2: Dun, dun, duuuun (cue dramatic music).**

**One final chapter to go. Would love to know what you thought or hear any guesses as to where the action is going to take place :)**


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